A Light in the Darkness
by Coffee Fueled Author
Summary: After becoming unable to stand up to the terrors in the night alone, Fear leaves the safety of his bed in search of comfort from his fellow emotions. Oneshot Starnerve, as requested by fans.


**Hello all, and welcome to my first oneshot shipfic.**

 **YES. THIS IS A SHIP FIC. I APOLOGIZE IF THOSE AREN'T FOR YOU. FOR NON-SHIP MATERIAL, SEE MY MAIN STORIES SUCH AS** **OUT OF PLACE** **.**

 **While writing Out of Place, I began to accumulate dozens of requests to write various shipfics. I plan on tackling at least a few of them, as they make for good practice. If you wish to suggest one, feel free to message me here or on my tumblr. I am not limited when it comes to ships. I am willing to write for most all of them.**

 **Out of Place will be wrapping up shortly. Until then, please enjoy. I ask that you review, as your feedback is what fuels my creativity. And please, I understand that there are those who aren't fans of this or any ships. But please try to stay kind and respectful towards myself and any others. Thank you all so much!**

 **Ship:** **Starnerve**

It all began so suddenly.

A deafening alarm tore through the once calm atmosphere in headquarters, startling the nervous emotion awake with a shriek. His waking eyes were greeted with an ominous red flashing all around, illuminating his room in short, crimson bursts. As he quickly came to his senses, he realized that the alarm was originating from downstairs in the control room. Something was horribly wrong. Riley's safety was in danger.

A rush of nervous, adrenaline fueled energy launched Fear out from beneath his covers, and he charged out through the living quarters. He had to get to the console quickly. Never before had an alarm like this been sounded. Wild guesses as to the disasters cause flew through Fear's mind as he exploded into the main room, becoming bathed in the wail of the siren and the glow of the flashing lights.

He dashed down the ramp as quickly as he could on his short legs, realizing that his fellow emotions had beaten him to the console. The four of them stood static in an arc around the machine, all turned to face the screen above.

"What's going on!?" Fear shrieked, nearly slamming his chest into the contraption before him.

Before he could receive a response, he saw it. A haunting blackness covered the soft edges of the screen, slowly rippling inward, consuming the view being broadcast upon it. Glancing down, he saw the console was suffering a similar fate. The oozing darkness spread from both ends inward, turning the once white machine black as pitch as it spat sparks in response. He had seen an error like this once before. But this darkness was different. It was far more powerful, far more destructive. It seemed to give off the aura that nothing could possibly stop it. Soon, all of headquarters would be devoured.

Fear slammed a hand upon the electronics face, receiving only an error tone in response to the button mashing. Panicking, he began to whimper and whine as he continued to hammer away at different parts of the controls, trying to get some form of reaction. But nothing he did was working. He was powerless.

"Guys! What do we do!?" He screamed, whirling around to his coworkers.

None of them moved.

All four were standing in the exact same location he had seen them in from the top of the ramp. Their faces were frozen in an emotionless stare into nothingness, their eyes not even blinking. It was like their bodies stood as empty shells, but they themselves had left long ago.

Fear, becoming deeper engulfed in his panic, ran towards the golden emotion in front of him. "Joy!" He shrieked. "What's wrong with you guys!?" He waved an erratic lavender hand just in front of her face, but still couldn't get her to move.

"Joy!" He screamed, tears of sheer terror beginning to accumulate in his eyes. "Joy, stop it! Snap out of it!"

He reached to grab the emotion by her shoulders, but the instant his hand came in contact with her flesh, she began to dissolve. Her whole body blew away like sand in a desert breeze, becoming reduced to nothing more than colorful dust strewn across the smooth floor.

Fear let loose a horrified screech. His mind couldn't comprehend the situation.

"Disgust!" He screamed, sprinting over to her. "You have to help Joy! She just-"

Just as before, when his hand moved to grab her immobile wrist, she disintegrated into a sparkling powder, resulting in yet another cry of terror from the confused creature.

Desperate for assistance, he tried once more, knowing the response would no doubt be the same. "Anger!" He yelled, crossing the floor to the short red emotion that stood static in his spot. "Please! Don't do this!" In a matter of seconds, he too joined the others as dust on the floor in response to Fear's touch.

"Sadness! Help me!" He wheezed, streams of tears flowing from his huge bright eyes. "You have to help me! Don't leave me alone!" He tried to quickly grab her between his lanky arms in an awkward embrace, only to have the blue dust fall all around him.

And just like that, he was alone.

Hiccuping in terrified sobs, he turned to look at the screen just in time to see the blackness consume it completely. As it did, the lights and alarms suddenly gave out, as well as the console and the electronics all around. He became engulfed in darkness.

* * *

Fear woke with a start in his bed, attempting to scream but only managing a high pitched gasp. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, frantically scanning the room around him. But the room was dark and silent. No alarms were blaring. No lights were flashing. It was just another peaceful night in headquarters.

Fear wiped the sweat from his brow and brought his tattered old teddy bear to his chest. Burying his face in its aging, dingy fur, he began quietly sobbing, muffled by the soft plush so as not to alert the others.

No matter what he did, he never had been able to stop his nightmares. It seemed like he was doomed to suffer these nightly terrors for his entire existence. After all, it was his job to sense danger; his job was to be scared. The horrifying dreams simply came with the territory. But it was quickly becoming too much for him to handle. He was ashamed. Ashamed of being so scared. Ashamed of being completely unable to overcome what haunted him in the night.

But on top of everything, this nightmare had trumped all his previous terrors. None had scared him quite as terribly as this had. To be all alone. To be completely helpless. It was his deepest, darkest fear. As he squeezed the old bear tighter into his chest, he realized he would be entirely unable to sleep once more without assistance. Though it pained him, he knew he needed a friend. Someone he could hear, someone he could touch. Someone who could remind him that he wasn't alone, and that things would be alright.

He slowly lifted his head from the stuffed creatures back, sniffling and emitting a hushed whimper. He turned and glanced across the room to the far wall.

Buried in the sheets of the other bed was Anger, with whom Fear shared his room. The crimson emotion hadn't even stirred. His flat face was buried into a blocky arm draped over his tattered and slightly singed pillow. Anger was an incredibly heavy sleeper, which was ultimately beneficial to Fear, since he despised being awoken before his alarm and would burn anyone who attempted to get him up. Fear knew that Anger was definitely not the one to go to for his problems. As much as he tried to put up with his skittish coworkers shenanigans, he had grown quite tired of the night terrors long ago. He simply didn't understand.

Careful to stay quiet, Fear tossed off his blankets and, still clutching his bear, exited the shared bedroom.

Across from his room was Disgusts, who had claimed the only single bedroom in the living quarters. Something about 'beauty sleep', though Fear always figured it was just laziness. Like Anger, Disgust would snip at anyone who interrupted her slumber, claiming that waking up in the middle of the night was bad for ones skin. Though he knew there were times he could find comfort with her, in the middle of the night was not one of those times.

Walking down the cramped and short hallway, he quickly came to the last bedroom, shared by Sadness and Joy. He slowly peeked inside and glanced at the beds on either wall.

The close bed with the ocean blue comforter was empty, its sheets still a mess from the night before. Fear knew Sadness must've been on dream duty, which also meant Riley was still in REM sleep, not yet reaching a deep slumber. He turned to look at the far bed.

The sheets glowed with a soothing blue aura that illuminated that side of the room. Joy was resting peacefully under her golden fleece blankets, not so much snoring as she was quietly humming in her sleep. In just a glance, Fear quickly decided; he would seek comfort from Joy.

Fear cautiously entered the room, moving through the door frame slowly as if there were some unseen forcefeild preventing entry. Part of his mind was telling him this was wrong. That he was never supposed to enter another emotions room uninvited. But another part was urging him to continue. It wasn't often that Fear got a chance to speak with Joy alone. He wasn't about to pass up this chance. So he tiptoed across the floor and hovered over the side of the mattress.

It was here that he froze.

Joy looked so content, so purely happy and at peace. Her golden skin shimmered with the light glowing from her form. Her messy blue hair still managed to arrange itself perfectly through hours of slumber, silky and sparkling brightly. Sighing a quiet snore, she nuzzled her head deeper into the plush white pillow, her smile widening ever so slightly.

Fear could feel his own face begin to heat up, and he held up his bear under his nose to hide it. He couldn't help it; he always thought Joy looked beautiful. Really, all the emotions within Riley did. But it wasn't just her perfect looks that Fear thought were beautiful. There was something else. Something he couldn't see or even explain. He just... always wanted to be as close as he could to her, as if attracted by a strong gravitational pull. He had never really had the chance to observe her for so long without becoming self conscious. But since she was asleep, he was able to simply gaze at her, trying in vain to figure out what about her made him feel this way.

Suddenly, the image of Joy dissolving to colorful sand in Fear's hands replayed in his mind, jolting him out of the strange trance. Beginning to shake and quickly remembering why he had entered in the first place, Fear reached out an arm to wake the sleeping beauty. His palm hesitated, hovering just above her shoulder. Worrying, somewhat irrationally, that his touch would turn her to dust again, he moved his hand instead to the mattress by her elbow and planted it in the fabric.

"Joy..." He whispered, leaning his weight onto his wide palm. "Joy... Please wake up..."

The golden emotions face began to twitch and tightened before she finally managed to persuade an eye open. Her sapphire iris focused instantly on the lavender figure before her, her pupil constricting to bring it into focus. Her eyebrows lowered in a confused expression.

"Fear...?" She groaned tiredly, her voice somewhat shaky from inactivity. "What's wrong..?"

Fear once again hid behind his plushie so Joy couldn't see the color flushing in his cheeks. "I-I... I..." He tried with all his being to hold back, but the video of her disintegration played over and over again until his eyes began to water. "I had a nightmare..." He whimpered.

Joy pushed her head and upper body off of the mattress to better see her fellow emotion. "I'm sorry." She whispered sympathetically as she turned herself into a seated position. She knew that nightmares were a normal thing for the nervous emotion. But she also knew that he had always been far too timid to approach her about it unless she happened to be up on dream duty. For him to have overcome his fears and entered her room; it meant the nightmare had to be something even scarier. Concerned, Joy reached out a glowing golden hand and patted the mattress in front of her, attempting to coax Fear into sitting. "What happened?" She asked in her calmest tone.

Fear felt his pulse quicken as Joy urged him to sit on her mattress. Moving almost in slow motion, he turned and lowered himself onto the edge of the bed, squeezing his teddy bear for moral support.

He sighed. "I dreamed..." He whispered, rethinking the terror and allowing it to consume him once more. "That you... You and the others... Disappeared. Riley was breaking down and darkness crept across headquarters... There were all sorts of alarms and flashing lights and..." He felt tears begin to roll down his cheeks and nose. "And you... You all left. You turned to dust... And I was all alone... I... Couldn't... I couldn't save Riley... I couldn't save any of us..."

He broke into rhythmic sobbing, his eyes shut tight and his grip on the bear firm and unrelenting. Joy's face fell in sympathetic despair. She had never had a nightmare. All her dreams were of happy things and happy faces. Her worst dreams were ones where nothing happened. She couldn't even imagine or comprehend nightmares. And that made her feel awful. Fear was living these nightmares so that none of the others had to. She always found this so incredibly noble, and wished she could do something for him as thanks. Comforting him was the least she could do.

As he continued to weep, Fear suddenly felt the warm touch of loving arms wrapping around his form. Joy pulled him into an understanding embrace, leaning her head onto Fear's shoulder, her hair softly brushing against his blushing face. Fear felt his heart skip a beat or two as he was enveloped by the warmth of Joy's body.

"Oh, Fear..." She whispered softly, enjoying the feel of his silk pajamas on her cheek. "You know we'd never leave you. We'll always be here; always together. And you'll be there for us and for Riley."

Fear's timid shaking steadied slightly beneath Joy's calming touch. She was close enough to him that her scent began to waft into his nostrils. He could never accurately describe Joy's smell. It was sweet and soothing like a warm spiced tea, and it never failed to relax him. He breathed a long sigh, feeling some of his negativity leave him as he exhaled.

With a few comforting pats on his back, Joy slowly released Fear once again. Looking closely at his calmer expression, Joy could tell that she had helped to improve his mood at least somewhat. To make someone else happy; that made her feel better than anything else in the world. She couldn't help but beam a wide smile at her lanky coworker.

Feeling marginally better, Fear stood once again on his feet, his bear still clutched to his chest. He supposed now he was calm enough to return to his room and resume sleeping again. But at the same time... He didn't want to leave just yet. Maybe, he thought, he could stand to be even calmer. And he could almost sense that she didn't want him to leave yet either.

It took every last bit of his nerve to ask the question that lingered in his mind. "Do... D-do you think..." He mumbled, too nervous to even meet her gaze. "That maybe... I could... stay here..." His voice trailed off until it was barely audible. "W-with you...?"

Joy could almost feel herself glow brighter in response to the question. It was always an honor to be asked to lift ones spirits. She was finally being given a chance to repay the favor to Fear for living everyone's night terrors. Trying not to scare him off by acting too excited, she forced herself to nod slowly and speak carefully. "Of course." She smiled, scooting over to the other side of her queen mattress.

Fear could feel his entire body tense and heat up at the unexpectedly positive response. He stared hard at the empty side of the bed being offered to him. His fearful nature within him screamed to abandon ship; that this was against some non-existent rule or that it would only cause chaos. But another part of him, a larger part which he could not identify, told him to press on. Nervously, with his knees shaking in strong tremors, he slowly laid himself down on the pastel yellow sheet, carefully covering himself in the thick blankets.

His heart was pounding now as he laid in the foreign bed. He pushed himself as far to the side as he could without falling off, worried that if he laid too close he would only make Joy uncomfortable. He flipped himself to face the wall, still unable to look at the golden emotion. His body was roasting from the intense mix of feelings flowing through him, and the blankets were only making it worse. But he refused to let on that he was feeling this way, and so pretended to ignore the burning heat.

Joy smiled sweetly, amazed and incredibly thankful that he had decided to accept the invitation. Though it was painfully obvious how nervous he was. So Joy chose not to push it, and left the distance he had put between them alone. As long as he was happy, she was as well. Feeling satisfied with herself, she began to nod off once again to return to her peaceful dreams.

Hearing Joy's breathing begin to slow brought Fear's anxiety level down. He brought his bear closer to his body and sighed. Breathing deeply, he realized just how much of the bed had absorbed Joy's scent over time. He nuzzled deeper into the pillow, pushing his nose closer to the mattress, allowing him to take in the pleasant scent as he finally began to drift into slumber.

* * *

It was happening again.

For a second time, Fear had been awoken by the wail of an alarm and the bright flashing of warning lights. Just as before, he sprinted from his bed, down the ramp, and to the console below, taking note of his four static coworkers standing around him.

But this time, the screen was clear, completely free of any creeping blackness. Glancing down, he saw the console was still its standard pure white color. What, then, was causing the alarm?

Fear raised his vision again and studied the view displayed on the screen. Riley was standing in her living room, gazing out the far window. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. But inside headquarters, the blaring alarm and flashing lights continued.

Fear turned to look at his coworkers. Sure enough, just like last time, their faces were frozen in an emotionless stare. Fear swallowed nervously and began to tremble, refusing to attempt to touch the other creatures lest they be rendered to powder once again.

As he looked back to the monitor, he saw as Riley slowly pivoted, turning to face the dining room and kitchen. It was then that he saw it. That same ominous blackness. But this time, rather than invading headquarters, it was invading the real world.

The oozing black had already completely consumed the stairway and far kitchen counter tops. Now it slowly crept across the floor, devouring whatever stood in its path as it approached the young girl. In mere seconds, it was close enough to envelope the dining room table. If Riley didn't move, she would be done for.

With a shriek, Fear raised a hand to slam the controls activating the adrenaline dump. But when he brought his palm down, it phased right through the panel before him. Fear stared in terrified confusion at his hand, somehow intersecting the solid object and clipping inside of it. Gasping, he raised and lowered his arm, trying again and again to hit the controls, but it was as if the electronic had been removed and replaced with an intangible hologram.

Without access to the controls, Fear was unable to produce a fearful response in the young girl. Instead of sensing danger in the approaching darkness and avoiding the threat at all costs, Riley simply didn't care. Almost as if to mock him, Fear watched as the screens view began to settle, as Riley apathetically laid herself down on the couch.

"No!" Fear shouted, grasping at the sides of his head. "We have to run! You've got to move!" He hollered commands at the screen in a pathetic attempt to receive a response, but the girl didn't react. The darkness would soon be upon them. Once again, Fear was powerless.

He turned to the other emotions, his instincts telling him to grab their attention so they could assist in the situation. But right before he made contact with Joy, he stopped himself. It was no use. They weren't actually there. And Fear would rather have their empty shells present then be all alone in a mess of colorful dust.

He wrapped his arms tightly around his middle. "Oh, Joy..." He sobbed. "I wish you could hear me."

Joy blinked.

Slowly, a gentle smile formed on her face. No longer frozen, she took a delicate step forward, standing with her face mere inches from his.

"It's okay, Fear." She whispered. "I'm here."

Though ecstatic that he had finally received a response from one of his fellow emotions, Fear refused to calm down. He turned and gestured wildly at the screen.

"No! It's NOT okay!" He screamed, watching the blackness begin to consume the couch they were upon. "Riley won't move! The darkness is coming! We're not gonna make it!"

But as he turned back to her golden form, he saw that her soft, comforting expression hadn't changed. Instead of panicking about their impending doom, she smiled at her nervous coworker. Slowly, she reached out a hand, placing it gently onto Fear's shoulder, with neither emotion turning to sand. Fear could feel the warmth of her touch.

"It's okay." She repeated in the same calm tone. "You'll be alright. Just wake up, Fear."

The lavender creatures panicked expression morphed into a state of pure confusion. "Wh-what..?" He stammered.

"Wake up, Fear." She shook his shoulder while she spoke. "It's okay. Wake up."

* * *

Fear finally managed to force his eyes open, waking once more in headquarters. It took him less than a second to realize that his normal view of his own bedroom was absent. Instead, he saw Joy lying across from him, her shimmering blue eyes lazily focused on him, her golden hand still planted firmly on his shoulder.

Confused and still slightly alarmed, Fear pushed his head and shoulders above the mattress.

"Wh-what happened..?" He whimpered. "What's going on..?"

"Shhh it's alright." Joy smiled, gently guiding Fear back down onto the pillow below. "You were whining in your sleep. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Fear carefully stared at the glowing emotion. "I was?" He questioned. "Y-you did?" He could feel his cheeks begin to flush once more.

"Mhm." She mumbled, shutting her eyes and gently shifting closer to Fear, who had drifted nearer to the other side of the bed in his sleep. Seeing this as an opportunity, the sleepy Joy pressed herself against him, resting her head against the warmth of his chest, feeling his heart begin to race.

"You're okay, though." She yawned. "I wont let anything hurt you."

Fear was taken aback by Joy's sudden and bold approach. But surprisingly... he wasn't afraid. In fact, he could feel the terrors of the night releasing him from their grip. He looked at the emotion pressed against his form, focusing on the soft glow she emitted. It was then that he realized that no darkness would ever have power over him. For no matter what happened, he had a guardian of light to protect him. Feeling calmer than he ever had before in his life, he gently placed his head atop hers, holding his teddy bear in one arm and wrapping the other around Joy to pull her close.

Before he allowed himself to drift back to sleep, he had one last thing he wanted to say.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, his voice hard to hear as he spoke into Joy's hair. "For waking you up, Joy..."

Joy, who was already mostly asleep again, smiled and nuzzled even deeper against him. "I love you too, Fear." She mumbled in a sleepy slur.

Fear's face immediately turned a bright pink. He was sure that Joy had completely misheard him, but he couldn't have asked for a better response.

* * *

 **And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed! Please don't forget to review.**

 **Remember that you can always send me suggestions, questions, and fan art either here or on my tumblr.**


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